The union government is concerned about the sharp spike in covid cases, with new reported cases on Monday doubling to more than 4,500 in the last 24 hours, bringing the active case load to 25,000, the highest in nearly three months.
The health ministry has asked states with the highest number of active cases —Maharashtra (6,767), Karnataka (2,414), Kerala (8,835), Delhi (1,445), Uttar Pradesh (892) and Telangana (500)—to take measures to control the surge.
Scientists and doctors advised people to wear masks and follow covid- appropriate measures. The Centre has also asked these states to monitor influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis and conduct continuous genome sequencing of all covid samples.
Dr Samiran Panda, Additional Director General at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the surge, particularly in Maharashtra, is being seen in a few districts. “This increase seems because people have stopped following covid appropriate measures.